| JWUrton | Thursday, August 31, 2017 - 06:54 pm 
Does the profit/loss number not reflect what my country is buying every month? My country says I have a profit of 20B a month yet I'm losing month hand over fist due to the things I'm ordering. I would think that the number should be a true gain or loss number for the month. |
| Michael | Friday, September 29, 2017 - 12:10 am
JWUrton, I asked a veteran experienced player a similar question. Here is his response (see below). Hope it helps. Also go to the Forum then General and look at Ask Aries topic and feel free to ask questions there too.
"Micheal, think of the country "profit" as a monthly allowance. It does not include many items, such as the purchase of products for your country, including from contracts. If you go to your finance page in detail, check out the "Cash YTD' tab. It will show recent influences of your cash total, and you will notice "profit or loss" is simply one component of this.
It is not uncommon for new players, in particular, to purchase items such as weapons and ammo and assume, since profit is positive, that they are staying in the green. However, the "Cash YTD" tab will include this purchase in the "materials purchased" area, which is indeed separate from the country "profit" consideration.
The three line items that get a lot of work there are the "Materials Purchased", "Spending by the Population", and "Materials sold or used bu Government" areas. A lot can be said of these but, to keep it short, the general idea is that you purchase stuff for your country and much of these things end up being used by the government (which "pays" for it here and "expenses" it in your profit or loss) or gets purchased for population consumption. An earlier writing I did above on this thread talks about the quality to purchase items at, and can do much to make your country run smoothly fiscally in these areas.
If you put effort in, it is even possible to get "deals" on products you know your government or population will eventually need, by finding a cheap market price, and stocking these products ahead of time. Then, if in the following months the market price is higher than what you paid, you either saved money, in the case of government products, by spending less than your profit and loss would suggest or profit by your population paying you more for products than what you purchased them for." |
| Aries | Friday, September 29, 2017 - 03:56 am
Thanks Michael. That was indeed my response, and still the best answer anywhere to that question. I have nothing to add to it. |
| JWUrton | Friday, September 29, 2017 - 04:03 pm
Yes, I believe I caught that post too. Thank you for the response. |
| Andy | Saturday, September 30, 2017 - 03:25 pm
Profit is indeed different from cash flow.
Products weapons and ammo are bought in large quantities and can reduce the cash. Later, these amounts are compensated for from the income of the populations and the "cost part" of the country, and cash returns.
All these costs and compensations, except for weapons, end up at zero, not monthly but in the long run.
There are differences due to the changing market price of products but these differences are not huge.
Weapons are the exception. They represent value.
you spend cash and get these weapons. Your total assets are not changed. (except for market price fluctuations).
This is not cost and does not reduce the profit.
Investments in general, are not considered cost.
taking loans is not income, paying them back is not considered cost.
Interest payments, both ways, are income and cost. |
| Aries | Saturday, September 30, 2017 - 04:06 pm
Just a note, no player in the game can account for ammunition properly being expensed in the costs portion of the military, and the gamemaster position is that we are not given all the inside details to complete our own investigation. My own analyses shows its monthly use as separate and in addition to the other costs shown in "Total Defense Cost". |
| Khome | Saturday, September 30, 2017 - 05:00 pm
Kind of like double billing? |
| Aries | Saturday, September 30, 2017 - 09:45 pm
Kind of like not recording product use cost and wondering where your money is going. |
